


Follow Through

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: Near Miss AU [16]
Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Modern AU, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25190383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: Jack and David (finally) get married!
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Near Miss AU [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735408
Comments: 41
Kudos: 77





	Follow Through

**Author's Note:**

> I know you guys have been waiting for it for a while, so here it is: the Near Miss Javid Wedding!
> 
> It's taken me a while to wrap my head around it because I have not been in a great place to write wedding content for a few weeks, but I really hope that this lives up to everybody's expectations!

“Hey, Chuck, you don’t need a plus one, do you?”

“Hmm?” says Crutchie. “Oh, no. Albo’s on the invite list already so –“

“What?” Jack replies.

“Albert. He’s invited?”

“Uh, yes –“

“Then I’m good,” Crutchie says, shrugging.

“Are you and Albert seeing each other?” asks Jack, stunned.

Crutchie laughs. “For, like, six months, honey.”

“Am I the worst friend ever?” says Jack. Crutchie pats his shoulder.

“You’ve had other stuff going on, it’s okay.”

“Charlie –“

“Jack, it’s okay,” says Crutchie. He leans against Jack, shoulder to shoulder on the couch. “We were keeping a low profile, figuring it out. Dating inside the exes club is always complicated.”

“He treatin’ you right?” Jack asks.

“You know he is,” Crutchie says. “Al’s a good guy. _You_ dated him.”

“We both know my taste is hit or miss,” says Jack. He tries to make it sound like a joke but he misses the mark a little and comes out sounding a bit pathetic.

“The misses don’t stick,” says Crutchie.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice,” says Jack.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Crutchie replies, shrugging.

“Is this what real adult life looks like, Chuck?” Jack asks. He’s not looking at Crutchie, instead his eyes are fixed on a scuff on the wood of the coffee table.

“We weren’t not real adults before,” Crutchie points out. “But yeah, I think it is. We ain’t each other’s first priority anymore.” He elbows Jack. “That’s okay, though, because you’ve got a _family_ now, and Dave’s so good for you. God, Jackie, you’re getting _married_.”

“I’m getting married!” Jack agrees, laughing. “Me, can you believe it?”

Crutchie doesn’t laugh, but he’s smiling when he says, “I always said you’d find someone, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, Chuck, you did.”

\--

Jack designed their invitations. David saw the design before they committed to it, but there’s something different about holding it in his hands.

“Holy shit, Jackie,” David says. “This is for real.”

Jack laughs. “Yeah, love. We’re getting _married_.”

“We have to hand write, like, two hundred addresses,” says David.

“My hand is already cramping just thinking about it,” Jack replies. “You think we can get Les, Sean, and Tony in on that?”

“If we bribe them with food or something, and if I ask them instead of you,” David answers. “Thank God we at least got return address labels.”

They do convince the other adults of the Higgins-Conlon-Jacobs-Kelly household to help them, which makes (relatively) light work of addressing more envelopes than David has ever looked at in his life.

It’s honestly slightly ridiculous how much work goes into just _inviting_ people to a wedding. Let alone planning the actual event. Let alone getting married.

(Let alone _being_ married.)

Leah and Frankie help, too, having been assigned the job of sticking the return address labels onto the corner of each envelope. They’re taking it very seriously.

“Papa?” Leah says, tapping Jack’s arm. “This one’s crooked.”

“How crooked?” Jack asks, looking over.

“Um, very. It got stuck and I couldn’t fix it.”

The sticker is probably about forty-five degrees off of how it’s supposed to be, hanging slightly off the edge of the envelope.

“You know what, that’s okay,” says Jack. He kisses Leah’s forehead. “We’ll save that one. Just be more careful with the rest, okay?”

Leah nods seriously. “I will, promise.”

“Good girl.” Jack looks over at Frankie. “How’s it goin’ Cesco?”

Frankie gives him a thumbs up, not looking up from his task.

“Great,” says Jack. He turns back toward his own stack of envelopes, but catches David’s eye across the table. “What?”

David’s cheeks flush red, but only because he’s been caught staring. There’s a warm flutter in his chest, a contentedness that he’s been basking in the entire time they’ve been working on this project.

“I love you,” David says, smiling softly.

Jack gives him a slightly baffled half smile in response. “I love you, too, Davey.”

“Saps,” says Les.

David throws a pillow at him. “Hey, I’ve got plenty of sappiness for all of you today, just wait your turn.”

Tony laughs.

“No, I’m serious!” says David, grinning. “I am never happier than when I’m with all of you, and it means the world to me to have you guys helping me and Jack get ready for the wedding. I love you guys so, so much.”

Sean reaches over and ruffles David’s hair. “Yeah, well. This is what family’s for. We love you, too, of course we’re here. Of course we’re helping.”

There are probably versions of David’s life where he didn’t end up here, sitting on the floor in the apartment he shares with his fiancé and his brother and his daughter, addressing wedding invitations with his best friends and their son.

Versions of his life where things didn’t work out with Jack.

Versions where he never met Sean and Tony, or where Les never moved in with him.

(One version, slightly cursed, where things didn’t fall to pieces with Kate and maybe he addressed wedding invitations on the floor with Bill and Darce and Ben instead.)

David is glad he isn’t living in any of those alternate realities, because he cannot imagine being as happy as he is right here and right now in any other world.

\--

It feels like the actual wedding date – a Saturday in early fall – rushes up to them like it can’t wait for them any more than they can wait for it.

As excited as Jack is to actually be married to Davey, that means that all the planning and arrangements and _shit did we ever get a DJ?_ feel like they’re happening at double speed and suddenly the wedding is next week and Jack’s not sure where the time’s gone.

The Sunday before the wedding, Jack spends the afternoon with his mother and his little sister, sitting on Medda’s back porch and enjoying the last few warm summer breezes.

It’s incredible – honestly completely unbelievable – how different this feels to when Spot and Race got married, years ago. Some of that Jack knows comes from the fact that this wedding is _his_ , but there’s just a very different feel in the air about this. Spot and Race’s wedding was low key and personal, which at the time surprised Jack for how contrary it was to Race and Spot’s personalities. He knows them both better now.

Jack and Davey’s wedding is going to be an _event_. Davey’s family is gigantic, which Jack knew from attending the Jacobs family reunion with him last year but didn’t really appreciate until he was writing his 47th _Jacobs family_ invitation. Jack himself could give or take the scale of the party, but it’s important to Davey to have as much of his family as possible there, so they’ve gone all out.

Both he and Davey have taken most of this week off of work, as well as next week for their honeymoon. Davey has all of Wednesday blocked out for time with his college friends, because the three that live out of town come in Tuesday night.

But right now, Jack is just sitting with his mom, enjoying the evening. They’re chatting about the wedding, because that’s all anybody can talk about right now, and that’s fine.

“Are you nervous at all, Jack?” Smalls asks. She’s got one of her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around it.

“No,” Jack says honestly. “I’ve been scared of a lot in this relationship, but this I know I’m ready for.”

Medda smiles and reaches over to pat Jack’s arm. “Good. I’m so proud of you, kiddo. You’ve been looking for this for so long, and it’s finally worked out. You deserve to be happy.”

“Thanks, Ma,” says Jack. He settles back in his chair, crossing his legs. “It’s kind of wild, you know. _Me_ , married. _Me_ , a stepdad. But, like, now that I’m here, I can’t imagine my life going any other way. Can’t imagine my life without Davey and Leah in it, and I wouldn’t want to.”

\--

Jack and David don’t do any fussy sleeping apart thing the night before the wedding – the reality of their lives is that they live together, and that doesn’t magically change because they’re getting married tomorrow.

Side note, holy _shit_. They’re getting married tomorrow.

But, yeah, they don’t do anything special the night before. They tuck Leah into bed, they say good night to Les. They go into their room, which looks exactly the same as it always does.

It’s almost surreal how normal the night feels, for how important tomorrow is.

Jack seems to be on the same wavelength. “Hey, Dave. Guess what?”

“What, Jackie?” says David. They’re laying side-by-side, not overlapping or entangled, just in each other’s space and staring up at the ceiling.

“We’re getting married tomorrow.”

“We are, aren’t we?”

Jack doesn’t say anything at first. He rolls onto his side to look at David, who turns his head to meet Jack’s eye in the dark.

“I’m really glad I found you, Davey,” Jack says finally.

“I’m glad I found you, too, Jack,” says David. “I love you so, so much, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

\--

The day starts like this:

Jack leaves the house. He takes Leah with him, to drop off with Sarah who’s in charge of her for the day. He exchanges Leah for Kath at Kath and Sarah’s place and they go to Crutchie’s together.

Kath and Crutchie fuss over Jack’s hair and the way his shirt is buttoned and does his suit look right and _for the love of God, Jack, stop slouching!_

It’s midafternoon, and they’re going to have to get going soon, but Katherine pulls Jack into Crutchie’s bedroom under the excuse of fixing the tie he keeps fiddling with, but when Jack meets her eyes she’s fighting back tears.

“You’re so good for him, Jack,” she says quietly. “You have to – I _need_ you to keep being good for him.”

“I don’t do it for you,” Jack replies.

Katherine nods. “I know. And you shouldn’t. But I – he was so unhappy and so lonely for so goddamn long and it was all my fault. There is not a person I know, not a single one, who deserves this more than David does, and you – you two bring out every single bit of good in each other.” She pulls Jack into a bone crushing hug, then draws back. “I love you, Jack. You and David are so goddamn perfect for each other it almost hurts to look at. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Katydid,” says Jack. He’s more than a little emotional himself, now.

Kath steps away, dabbing carefully at her eyes. “One more thing, Jack.”

“What?”

“Take care of my daughter for me, would you?”

Jack nods solemnly. “Of course.”

He doesn’t say, _she’s already more my daughter than yours_ , but it hangs between them unsaid. It doesn’t need putting to words.

\--

The day starts like this:

Jack leaves the house.

Les physically shoves David into the shower, because he’s working himself up with nerves – not about getting married but about the event of the wedding going well and to plan – and he’s running out of time to do it in his own time.

When he gets out, Sean and Tony are there, and the two of them and Les are already dressed.

There is fussing and hair fixing and tie tying and _I swear to God, David Jacobs, stop fidgeting_ and before they know it it’s almost time to go.

Tony takes a long look at David before turning away, rubbing at his eyes.

“What’s _your_ problem?” David teases.

“I’m just emotional, shut up,” says Tony, turning back around. “Can’t fuckin’ believe after all this time you look so –“ he falters.

“What?” David says, almost nervous. Is there something on his face, or –

“Happy, Daves,” Tony says softly. “You look so happy.”

Tears well up in David’s eyes almost instantly. “I am, Tones. I’m so happy.”

“Good,” says Sean. It draws David’s eye to him, and there’s the faintest sheen over his eyes, too.

“Thank you guys for sticking with me,” David says. “All three of you, you’ve been such grounding constants in my life even when everything else was unstable, and I – I don’t think I thank you enough for that.”

Les puts a hand on David’s arm. “You don’t have to thank us, David. We’re your family, and I – I know that doesn’t always mean you’ve got support.” He grimaces, then sighs. “But you have it from us. We chose you.”

“Every damn day,” agrees Sean. “We’re with you, Daves. And we’re so happy for you.”

\--

The thing about the ceremony is that Jack does not remember any of it.

Not the details, anyway.

Davey is in front of him, grey-blue eyes sparkling in the lights, his expression so soft and fond that Jack can barely handle it – is it any wonder that the rest of the world has smudged into an incomprehensible blur? He’s looking at Jack like he’s his favorite thing in the world, like he’s something precious that he wants to hold close.

Davey is _here_ , that faint dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks only visible because Jack is close and Jack is focused on nothing in the universe besides this beautiful, wonderful man who’s somehow – for some reason – decided that he wants to hold onto Jack for the rest of their lives. In spite of who Jack has always been, in spite of warnings and worries, Davey gave him a chance and Davey _chose Jack anyway._

They’re holding hands, Davey’s soft skin and gentle fingers on Jack’s hands the only physical sensation in the entire world.

It’s all Jack can do to hope that he’s repeating his vows and not something embarrassing and ridiculous, because he barely notices the words coming out of his own mouth.

Davey is still smiling at him, though, so he must be doing something right.

They kiss – sweet, short, and chaste – and when they pull apart Davey’s forehead stays against Jack’s for a moment.

“I love you, Jack Jacobs-Kelly,” he whispers, a smile in his voice and on his face and in his eyes and in Jack’s fluttering heart.

“I love you, David Jacobs-Kelly,” Jack replies.

\--

David is half-dreading the Higgins-Conlons’ collective best man speech. They insisted on tag-teaming one, because alone Tony would be too wordy and Sean wouldn’t be wordy enough.

He loves them, but they also refused point blank to tell him anything about what they’re planning to say.

“For those of you who don’t know,” Tony starts, “my name is Tony Higgins-Conlon, and this is my husband Sean. We couldn’t decide which of us should get to speak, so we decided to do it together.”

“And be grateful for that, because if I let Tones do this alone, you’d have been stuck listening to him until dawn,” Sean adds, grinning.

Tony elbows him playfully. “Just until midnight. Anyway, we’ve been David’s next door neighbors since Leah and our son Frankie were babies. It’s been about six years now, and I think we’re pretty firmly David’s best friends – sorry Buttons!”

There’s a laugh from the table where Benny, Bill, and Darcy are sitting, and David smiles over at them.

“We met David the day he moved in across the hall from us,” says Sean. “And I am not exaggerating when I say that he was such a mess back then that Tony looked at me that night and told me we had to adopt him.”

“Love you, Daves,” Tony adds, winking. David is blushing, but Jack’s hand in his grounds him enough that it isn’t overwhelming.

“David has spent the last six years finding his feet again, opening up, and showing his true colors as one of the most funny, sarcastic people I’ve ever met,” Sean continues.

“Enter Jack Kelly, the man of many exes!” says Tony. He’s grinning, but the arm he has wrapped around Sean’s waist tightens noticeably for a moment before he continues. “I’ll tell you all a little secret – I happen to be one of those exes.”

“Who isn’t?” someone calls from the Exes Club table.

It’s Jack’s turn to blush, turning toward David a little. David squeezes his hand.

“On the surface, I don’t think any of us expected Jack and David to work out off the bat,” Sean says. “But let me tell you something about my brother – Jack, that is – I have known him for fifteen years, through more partners than I can count –“

“Charlie has the final count, if you’re curious,” Tony cuts in.

“- but I have never seen him so deeply, genuinely in love as he is with David,” Sean finishes. His voice is honest and sentimental – usually something David associated with his own relationship to Sean, but not Jack’s.

“As long as we’ve known him, David has been cautious. Cautious about bringing people into his life, about branching out, about moving on,” Tony says, just as genuine. “Jack is a whirlwind. You two bring out sides of each other I’ve never seen before, and I’m honored as your friend and as your brother to be able to see those moments. We’re honored, David, that you wanted us by your side to watch you get married.”

“Daves, Jack,” says Sean, “we love you. Congratulations.”

They’ve been holding glasses in their outside hands, since theoretically this is a toast, and they raise them just a little higher, echoed by the rest of the room.

“To Jack and David,” Tony says. “May you be happy and in love when you can, and when things get hard, may you always be able to find your way back to each other.”

When Sean and Tony sit back down, David reaches for Sean’s hand, teary-eyed all over again. “Thank you. I love you.”

Sean nods, and Tony smiles fondly at him. “We mean it, every word.”

\--

At one table, Les and Benny are grappling with the fact that their dates are sisters.

“So, Sad Ben,” Maebh starts.

Benny turns to Fiona. “It’s been six years, do you really still call me that to your sisters?”

“Yes,” Fiona says, grinning.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Maebh continues as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “Since it’s been _six years_.”

Les snorts. “Sad Ben?”

“Fio and I met right after your brother, uh, basically dumped me,” says Benny, shrugging. “When I was being pathetic in a coffee shop.”

“Wait, _David_ is Sad Ben’s tragic ex?” says Maebh. “Les’s David?”

“Les’s David,” Benny confirms. “It’s cool, though, we’re cool.” He gestures vaguely around the room. “I mean, I got an invite to the wedding, eh?”

\--

“You’ve gotta dance with me,” Tony says, dragging his husband onto the dance floor. “We barely even danced at our own wedding.”

“That’s because we didn’t have a wedding,” Sean points out.

“Exactly! So dance with me!” says Tony. He whirls his husband around the floor for a few songs, before finally giving in to Sean’s asking for a break.

“Where’s Smalls with our child?” Sean says, looking around.

Tony nods to the edge of the dance floor, where Smalls is supervising Frankie and Leah dancing together. “That’s so sweet. You have your phone on you? Daves’ll want a photo.”

Sean snaps a picture, and it almost captures how cute the moment is. There’s a wash of colorful light over the kids, and Frankie is spinning Leah under their joined arms. They’re both giggling; they look like they’re having a blast.

\--

Everyone in the world seems to want to talk to Davey and Jack. That makes sense, right? They just got married – they’re _married now!_ – a few hours ago. They’re the men of the hour, so to speak.

Still, Jack is dying for a breather.

A slow song comes on, and Jack seizes his chance. It’s not a hard sell to the aunt of Davey’s they’ve been talking to to get Davey away and onto the dance floor.

Jack slips his arms around Davey’s – his _husband’s_ – waist, and Davey’s come to rest around Jack’s neck.

“How’re you holding up, love?” Jack asks.

“Great,” says Davey. “I’m exhausted, but – Jack, we’re married!”

“I know!” says Jack. He’s grinning, he can’t stop himself. He’s married to the most amazing man in the world and he’s never going to get over that fact.

“Where’s our daughter?” Davey asks, looking around. “I want to dance with her before it gets too late.”

_Our daughter_. It sends another warm hum through Jack, because the only thing Jack loves more than just the fact that he’s married to Davey is the fact that along with Davey comes a family who he already loves with his whole being.

Like she heard them – which she didn’t, because Davey was speaking in a low voice just meant for Jack – Leah comes barreling over to them.

“Daddy! Papa!” she’s saying as she runs up. “Aunt Sar says it’s almost time to go, can’t I stay until the party ends?”

“Bee, we’ve talked about this,” Jack says gently. “Frankie isn’t staying either, Auntie Smalls is gonna bring him home.”

Leah groans dramatically.

“How about you dance with us before you go, though, sweetheart?” Jack says. “Your Daddy was just saying he wants to dance with you.”

“Hmm. Okay,” says Leah.

Davey laughs. “You’re such a funny little thing sometimes, Bean. Do you want to dance with me or Papa first? Or both together?”

“Papa,” Leah says decisively, taking his hand.

“We’ve been married for three hours, and already you’re the favorite dad,” Davey says, rolling his eyes.

“And who am I to argue?” says Jack, smiling at him. He squeezes Leah’s hand. “Okay, kiddo, lead the way.”

\--

“So, Les, did you really wait until today to introduce Maebh to our parents?” Sarah asks, watching Maebh chat with one of their cousins’ wives.

“Not on purpose,” Les says, slightly defensively.

“You sound like David,” says Sarah. She rolls her eyes. “Did you know he forgot to come out to them until he told them he was seeing Jack?”

“Of course I knew,” says Les. “I was _there_. It was awkward as fuck.”

“And you didn’t learn from that experience?”

“She wasn’t a secret or anything. They’ve just never been in the same room before.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “She’s met the family.”

“The – David and them?” Sarah clarifies.

Les nods firmly. “Mom and Dad were sort of incidental.”

“Oh, Les –“

“I don’t want to hear it, Sar,” says Les. He looks over at the dance floor, where David and Jack and Leah are all dancing together. “Not tonight, okay?”

\--

Benny throws his arms around David. “Fio and I are calling it a night, Dave, but I wanted to make sure that you know I love you and I’m happy for you.”

“I know,” says David, squeezing Benny before letting the shorter man step away. “I love you, too. I’m glad you could be here.”

“Me, too,” Benny says. He hums, a faint crease appearing between his eyebrows. “Have you talked to her?”

“No,” David replies. “Just in passing with Sarah, not – no. And I don’t plan to.”

Benny nods. “Good, don’t. It’ll only hurt, and this is your goddamn wedding day.”

He pats David’s shoulder and leaves.

\--

Crutchie convinces Jack to sit down with him for a little while late in the evening. They don’t talk – there’s not much else to say than they already have – but they enjoy the moment and the atmosphere and each other’s company quietly together.

Jack gets called away again before too long, but it’s nice to have a moment with his best friend amongst the chaos.

\--

The night has wound down, and there are a handful of people still around but Jack and David are ready to call it a night.

It’s been an amazing evening, but David is ready to fall asleep as soon as an appropriate surface to sleep on presents itself, so he doesn’t really regret making their escape.

Tony and Sean find them one last time before they go, pulling David into a slightly inelegant sandwich hug (with David as the peanut butter).

Crutchie catches them on the way out, too, but he just puts a hand on Jack’s shoulder and smiles for a moment before letting them go.

David and Jack walk up to their hotel room in no particular rush, hand in hand. David is very aware of the new ring on his finger, and how it feels tangled with Jack’s fingers.

Tomorrow they leave for their honeymoon trip, and while they’re gone Leah is spending the weekend with her aunts and the week in the combined care of Les and Sean and Tony so she can go to school without too much disruption of routine. David’s sure they’ll end up calling at least once a day while they’re gone, but that’s not a bad thing.

For now, though, he and Jack get to enjoy their first night of married life – the first of many – in the quiet by themselves.

“Hey, Jack?” David says, one hand halfway through loosening his tie.

“What’s up, Davey?” replies Jack, who is carefully draping his suit jacket over a chair.

“I love you.”

Jack grins. “I love you too, Davey.”

And that’s all they need, isn’t it?


End file.
